Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Like nearly all other sub-Saharan nations, Namibia is struggling to contain its HIV/
AIDS epidemic, which is impacting heavily on average life expectancy and population
growth rates. Life expectancy in Namibia has dropped to 52 years, although some other
estimates place it as low as 43. In 2009 13% of the population were HIV-positive, and by
2021, it is estimated that up to a third of Namibia's children under the age of 15 could be
orphaned.
Although Namibia is one of the world's least densely populated countries, its rich mix
of ethnic groupings provides a wealth of social and cultural diversity. The indigenous
people of Namibia, the Khoisan (comprised of San hunter-gatherers and Nama pastoral-
ists), have inhabited the region from time immemorial. They were followed by Bantu-
speaking herders, with the first Europeans trickling in during the 17th century.
San
The word San is a collective term referring to the traditional groups of hunter-gatherers
that occupy sub-Saharan Africa, and whose languages belong to the Khoisan family of
languages. According to archaeological evidence, San communities were present in Nami-
bia as early as 20,000 years ago, and left behind written records in the form of rock paint-
ings. By AD 1000, however, the southward Bantu migration pushed the San into inhospit-
able areas, including the Kalahari. Regardless, anthropologists have dubbed the San our
'genetic Adam', stating that all living humans can ultimately trace back their lineage to
this population group.
One of the most striking findings based on anthropological research is that traditional
San communities were nonhierarchical and egalitarian, and grouped together based on
kinship and tribal membership. Since groups were never able to build up a surplus of
food, full-time leaders and bureaucrats never emerged.
Although village elders did wield a measure of influence over the mobile group, the
sharpest division in status was between the sexes. Men provided for their families by
hunting game, while women supplemented this diet by foraging for wild fruits, vegetables
and nuts. While Thomas Hobbes famously noted in the 17th century that this lifestyle was
'solitary, poor, nasty, brutish and short', more recent ethnographic data has shown that
hunter-gatherers worked fewer hours and enjoyed more leisure time than members of in-
dustrial societies.
Owambo
As a sort of loose confederation, the Owambo have always been strong enough to deter
outsiders, including the slavers of yore and the German invaders of the last century. They
